About
Two crew, one van, and a published no
A London man and van organised around the one thing about a job that is actually difficult — and with a list, in public, of the work we turn down and what to use instead.
No memberships we do not hold, no awards we have not won, and no total of jobs completed invented for a homepage.
Why the awkward bit
Because on a van job the amount of stuff is almost never what makes it hard. Every job has one difficult feature — no lift, nowhere legal to stop, a window somebody else set, an item that will not go through whole — and that feature decides the crew, the equipment and how long the day takes.
Sorting by load size, which is how this end of the trade usually works, tells you the vehicle and nothing else. Naming the awkward bit tells you the job.
Always two crew
On every booking, including a single item. One person and a sofa is how furniture gets scraped, walls get marked and backs get hurt, and it is not a service we offer at any price.
We would also rather you did not carry things with us. It is our insurance and our technique, and an extra untrained pair of hands on a staircase makes the job slower rather than faster.
The work we turn down
A whole house needs a removals lorry and a full crew — a van doing three trips costs more and takes most of a day longer. A piano needs a piano specialist. A safe needs equipment and sometimes an opinion about the floor. Fine art needs a specialist carrier with the right cover.
And sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need us at all. Two boxes and a lamp is a courier or your own car. An item moving between floors of a lift-served block is frequently you, a friend and a booked lift slot. Saying that costs us an hour of work and it is obviously the right thing to do.
Three numbers, every time
The clear diagonal at the stair turn. The narrowest door head on the route. The longest rigid dimension of the largest item. Those three answer almost every question about whether something will physically get out, and almost nobody has them before they ring a firm.
Send them with the enquiry and you will get a straight answer instead of a conditional one.
And the London bit
The kerb. A van cannot stand on a red route, in a bus lane, in an unsuspended residents’ bay or on a pavement, which removes most of the obvious places across a great deal of the city. Where a suspension is needed we apply in advance, we survey a second standing point in case the first is taken, and we tell you how long the carry is likely to be rather than finding out together.
What is the awkward bit?
Both addresses, what the item is, and the one thing about the job that is difficult. A photograph beats any description.